There are a million recipes out there for Molten Lava Cakes. I’ve tried tons of different ones and honestly I’ve never had a bad one. I mean, how can anything that looks like this not be good?! This particular recipe I got from my beautiful, intelligent, and outrageously talented sister-in-law Emily. (You know, since this week we’re sucking up to our in-laws and I can’t let Kate upstage me.) Can you believe I actually have THREE sister-in-laws named Emily?? For the record they are all beautiful, intelligent, and outrageously talented 🙂 This particular one happens to be married to my brother Nate and I love her.
I used to make mini chocolate souffles a lot, but these are so much easier and they turn out every time so I’ve bagged teh souffles. Seriously, you can whip these suckers up in less than 5 minutes and be eating them shortly after that. So easy, so impressive, and so so good.
And since I know at least one person will ask- yes you need to use bittersweet chocolate! Remember you’re adding sugar too and these are very rich as is. Adding a sweet chocolate like milk or semi will be a little overkill. Besides bittersweet chocolate is my favorite! Live on the wild side.
Individual Molten Lava Cakes
3 large eggs
1/4 t salt
8 oz bittersweet chocolate*, melted
powdered sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. To prepare pans, use your fingers (or the butter wrapper) to rub butter in the muffin tins or ramekins. Sprinkle in some granulated sugar to coat the entire inner surface and tap out any extra discard.
The cute heart-shaped ramekins I used are from Michael’s craft Store. They come in pink, white, and red and they’re $1 each. When I was in the store the other day I heard them calling out, “Saaaaara, buuuuuy us, buuuuy us…” and who am I to argue with talking ramekins??
Mmmm….gooey chocolate. Don’t you wish you could stick your finger in that?
These little babies are rich, so definitely have some whipped cream, or some ice cream to go with it. Definitely a Valentine-Worthy dessert!
Questions & Reviews
Such a nice write-up, i appreciate your way of writing, thank you so much for sharing
Hi, Sara ~
Would you recommend substituting either coconut oil or olive oil for the butter, in this recipe?
I’d like to prepare a vegan version and would love to have your input.
Many thanks!
I wouldn’t use olive oil here because of the flavor, but coconut oil should work great!
I just wondering .. can i baked this in a jar ?
Hi Sara! These cakes looks so decadent! These are my favorite dessert to get whenever we eat out!
I have a question though.. I would like to make these for an office party.. wondering if I can make it the whole way through the night before, let it cooled, put in fridge, and just pop them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds at the office before party.. Would it still have that gooey melty center?
Can I use milk chocolate and omit the sugar? Would it be OK that way?
are these like the round molten cakes that burger king had a while back.
Hi I loved your cake by seeing this now itself.On this Valentines friends I have a big party of couple friends I want to know whether I can make 100 of them early(3-4 hrs before) and preserve it ?And just bake for 1 min at the time of serving.can this batter be made very early and refrigerated.Please give me ideas of serving this beautiful recipe without making a mess 🙂
Yes, they can be prepped ahead of time and kept in the fridge until ready to bake.
i made this recipe and it was grate what i did was i took small long platers each plater had 3 small boles one had the cake the other had a vanilla sauce and the last one was vanilla icecream evey one loved it
Can anyone please tell me what does butter 4T means? as in how much butter do we have to use?
Hi! Fantastic site!Has anyone tried reheating baked lava cakes and then inverting the ramekins to take them out?
Turned out great! I baked off 3 of the 4 and everyone loved it. Saved the 4th from last night to bake with the batch I’m making for tonight’s dinner party.
It only made 4 ramekins for me just now. Good thing I’m testing the recipe for tomorrow. If they bake big I know I can use less in each and make the 5 needed for tomorrow.
These look fabulous!! I was wondering if they could be made up in a jar. I am currently in love with that idea and want to find something with chocolate that’s decadent to make up in a jar to give out on Mother’s day. Can’t wait to try your pie in a jar – that’s my Father’s Day plan I think!
Yep, can definitely be made in a jar!
I made these last week for my boyfriend to celebrate his birthday and he and his family and friends loved them. However, I did make some changes. I made the batter the night before because I knew I would not have had time after work the next day. After making the batter, I made one to try out. I did not like the rich bitterness of all the bittersweet chocolate, so the next day before baking, I added about a cup of semisweet chocolate and a half a cup of powdered sugar. This gave it more of the taste I was looking for. Unfortunately, the cakes stayed about for a couple of hours before eating while we were at dinner so the lava didn’t flow out the way it would have if it was eaten immediately. I served it with vanilla ice cream, dusted with powdered sugar, drizzeled with caramel, pecans and strawberries. You would have thought it came from a gourmet chocolteir. Thanks for the recipe Sara!
Hi Sara, I know this reciepe was posted a while ago, but I hope you respond to my questions…I am making these cakes on Friday for my boyfriends birthday. I could not find any ramekins at Michael’s so I bought an extra large muffin tray instead. My concern is if I spray the tray with non-stick baking spray instead of butter will they pop right out??? Because I’d rather not use cupcake liners. Also I am concerned about the chocolate lava sauce. Since it isn’t baked all the way through, it doesn’t taste like raw cake batter does it??? And also what is the purpose of sprinkling the pan with graulated sugar in the beginning??? Sara along with anyone else that has tried the reciepe please reply as soon as possible. Thanks!
Hi Lareasa- You know, you can find ramekins at just about any store that sells kitchen supplies, like target, walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc. It might be worth a trip to get some because I can’t guarantee they’ll pop right out of a muffin tin. The sugar sprinkled in the pan helps with that, as it creates a crust, but depending on the pan you use they may or may not slide out easily. The centers are just gooey and soft, that’s all.
Have either of you ever come across an AMAZING chocolate Soufflé? Would love it if you did.
These babies are the best. I wanted to make these for my girlfriend on V-day and so I looked them up in our fancy baking cookbook – they were way over my head. Then I found this recipe and voila. So easy and so delicious. Can’t really eat but half of one though…soooo rich.